You can’t imagine it, the singer states. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.
The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, her latest release, was intended as an open book, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The first single, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The cancer. Then next release, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time living with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she had a mastectomy.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.
Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with elaborate white patches, cream boots and oversized specs. Think rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “I feel like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. When performing I frequently joke about the audience.”
Medical Challenges and Discovery
The artist was planning an appearance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was simply too inconvenient to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.
“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you roll down in a bed, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”
The next operation is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
A History of Health Challenges
The singer is no stranger to illness. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has happened to my health.”
She reminisces to her youth, already beginning starring in the stage in a musical (she was chosen at the age of 9). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and 17-year-old Jess has joined the female band the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”
Oi, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
